AR-15 Demands Skyrockets Following New California Gun Controls

Gun store owners in California say the demand for AR-15s has skyrocketed in the wake of the new gun controls signed by Governor Jerry Brown on July 1.

Among those controls is a law that will enhance the state’s ban on “assault weapons.”

According to KION, Ray Parga, owner of Marina’s Del Valle Gunsmithing, said “California compliant rifles” sold so fast they are now “now-existent” on store shelves. Moreover, he said, demand is so great that the incoming shipments of such guns “have already been sold.”

Parga said the demand for the rifles arises from the simple fact that Californians “want to be able to have one before they aren’t allowed to buy them anymore.” And he stressed that the new gun laws are misplaced, in that they burden law-abiding citizens with rules criminals will never follow. He added, “Criminals don’t care about the law. Evil is as evil is.”

Six new gun bills in total were signed by Brown. One seeks enhancement of California’s “assault weapons” ban by outlawing rifles with “bullet buttons.” Such buttons are simple releases that allow gun owners to trade out an empty ammunition magazine for a full one.

Breitbart News reported that gun owners rallied in Sacramento the day after the bills were signed, proclaiming their determination to refusal to recognize the new requirements.

According to the Sacramento Bee, the protesters held banners that declared, “WE WILL NOT COMPLY.”

Earlier in July, Breitbart News reported that one innovator has already devised a way to circumvent the ban on “bullet buttons”: “… on July 5, the inventor of the ‘bullet button’ introduced the ‘Patriot Mag Release,’ a.k.a. ‘Bullet Button Reloaded.'”

California’s Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom has been pushing a November referendum that will require background checks for ammunition purchases in the state. Such campaigns almost always drive up the demand for weapons.